It’s no secret to those of you who know me that I just adore and respect and cherish teachers and librarians who are out there every day with kids–reaching out to them with just the right book or just the right conversation and changing lives. As is often said in children’s literature circles, books offer both mirrors and windows to readers. We often discover things about ourselves and/or who we want to be through reading (mirrors). We also learn about the world–other cultures, ways of life, opinions and learn to empathize with others (windows) which is more important than ever. For some, a book offers a friend and the ability to revisit that friend as needed. Yes, we write the books. But YOU, wonderful teachers and librarians…YOU put those books into the hands of kids every day. We are a TEAM.

.
So…to express this appreciation and love for ALL of you heroes/teachers/librarians out there, I have banded together with some author friends (HUGE THANKS to these authors for their kindness and generosity!) to offer one GIANT giveaway for one lucky winner. The winner of this giveaway will receive a signed copy of every single book below. There are many you’ll recognize, I think 🙂 Even if you don’t win, though, please know you are appreciated. Every. Day.

.

Please see the rules on ways to enter at the BOTTOM of this post.

.

So…without further adieu, here are this year’s raffle books:

.

So a pretty cool line-up of signed picture books and middle grade novels, huh?

Okay–so to enter the SIGNED BOOKS Giveaway to win ALL of these books – THE KID LIT LOTTERY!!! ……

1) Make a comment on this blog about anything book-related, kid-related, something to inspire or make anyone reading this smile. 🙂 *Please provide twitter handle or e-mail address with your comment* Also, if you share elsewhere online (Facebook, Twitter, Google+, etc.) please let us know here.

2) Share to Twitter with the hashtag #AuthorsLoveTeachers I know–long hashtag 🙂 But it will help us find your entry! ***Please include link, if possible!

.

Rules: ***Giveaway ends on Wednesday, February 21 at 11:59PM. Winner will be announced the following morning.

1) This is to show our appreciation for teachers and librarians, specifically. Therefore, the winner MUST have a school mailing address and be presently employed at that school. (Sorry–only US and Canadian winners this time.)

***2) We know that teachers do not always get the appreciation they deserve. (They deserve parades and serenades and major awards.) This giveaway is a reminder that WE appreciate you. Yes—we write the books, but YOU are in the trenches every day. YOU get the books into the hands of children. Together, we create life-long readers.

Thank you so much for the kind words and giveaway! I have really enjoyed how the community of authors, teachers, and librarians can come together on Twitter for the purpose of creating life-long readers. Many of the authors in the giveaway have inspired the readers at my school along this road, and the others we just haven’t spent enough time with yet. Hence my entry into this contest (yes, I have spent my budget for the year already- but I will do fundraising for more). Thanks again, and good luck to everyone working to help kids find great books to read. @iceNIN75

What an amazing way to show your appreciation to teachers. The best part about this line up of books is that even as a teacher now, I can still remember reading these books when I was in school. Goes to show how some titles never lose their edge! Thank you! #AuthorsLoveTeachers @MrsCrook1126

Thank you for organizing this incredible giveaway in appreciation of teachers! My students have been inspired so much by the generosity of many authors this year…the likes and replies on Twitter, the swag packs, the personal notes, the videochats, etc. These personal connections with the people behind the books are helping them to relate more deeply to the texts they read…and are helping many of them to get excited about producing their own written pieces. I can only imagine how an enormous box of signed books will touch them!

Thank you, Lynda! This is amazing. I am a middle school librarian and I see daily the impact that great books have on students. I love matching kids to the right book. Reading helps us all become better to each other and the world around us. I am currently reading Insignificant Events in the Life of a Cactus. Happy Reading all! @allred_kristi

What a great collection of middle grade books! Thank you to all the wonderful authors who realize the sacrifices teachers make for our students. I feel very loved and appreciated y this collection of books from great authors.

Book collections like this inspire me to keep reading newly published books. My inspiration to keep reading (and buying) these books has a positive influence on both my own children & my students. Whenever I have a bag by my desk, my students are asking to be on the wait-list for whatever is inside-they know if I brought it in, it’ll be a great read!

I grew up in a district that had an annual Authors Festival. Every student would have a chance to see at least one author visit their classroom (sometimes two). At the end of the day, all the authors that had been visiting kids around town would sign books at the town library together. My collection, which started more than 30 years ago contains signatures from authors and illustrators like Norman Bridwell, Marc Brown, James Marshall and Katherine Patterson. Though I loved reading from my first book it fostered a connection to books unlike any other. I ended up teaching in a district that has author visits annually. Our students have been visited by Rob Buyea, Cynthia Lord, Jacqueline Davies and many others. I’ve read so many of the books in this giveaway and loved them all. What a generous offering of an amazing collection of stories!

Good morning – First, thanks for doing this! It is a wonderful way to give us a pat on the backor a virtual hug!! Second, I am a PK-12 librarian and one of my very favorite things is to see the joy on one of my student’s faces when falling in love with a book and reading. My teachers do a great job getting kids to love books. I am lucky! Third, I shared this via my twitter (@CPCSInfoMaven ) and FB feeds. Happy Valentine’s Day to you and again, thank you!

Thank you to the authors who write stories that connect with my students. I give away over 1000 new and gently used paperback books to my high need ss each summer so that every child has a home library of relevant reading materials. @mphilli0524

What a wonderful variety of books! Yes, teachers get books into kids hands, but we couldn’t do it without the talented authors who write the books kids want to read. Thanks for the generosity. @DrLMaucione

There’s an ENTIRE CLASSROOM LIBRARY in this giveaway! My kids call my classroom “a library with a classroom in it,” which I love, because they know how much I adore and value reading. Books and reading, to me, are the greatest stepping stone for kids, both academically and social-emotionally. Thank you for this.

My students love sharing with each other what they are reading. We do library shelfies where students take pictures with books tjat tjey have enjoyed reading. We share these pictures in the media center as book recommendations.

Thank you so much for your inspiring words! I love being surrounded by all of your “book babies” every day—authors are my rock stars! Happy Valentine’s Day to all of you. Thank you, authors, for the gift of your books!

What an awesome line up of books! Thank you for doing this giveaway!! It is really great to feel appreciated for the work we do and I think that all of these authors should know that they really do impact my teaching. Getting good books in the hands of my students is always a goal of mine and they make it really easy when their stories are SO good:)

It is so rewarding to have all of the work that teachers and librarians do to keep students reading. I love working in a library and talking to students about books and putting together displays and promotions.

This is an incredibly sweet and generous opportunity for us teachers!
Authors, your books are such a blessing to my classroom! I’ve seen the seeds of becoming a life-long reader start to take shape this year from students reading many of these books!
@kljenkins on twitter

I started teaching a section of 6th grade reading this year. The students I have in class I have worked with for 3 years in elementary school. Reading is not something that comes easy for them. They work very hard. This year I have seen so much growth in their reading. It might not show on district benchmark assessments but I know. When I bring in new books they cannot wait to start reading. Three years ago these students would of ran the other direction. They are becoming readers and it makes my heart happy. Thank you to all of the authors who write books that help students become readers.

I teach 3rd grade and I am constantly updating/reorganizing/adding to my classroom library! My students love to read! I encourage lots of independent reading time in my classroom, and I expect my students to read from a range of genres. They love to trade the books in their book boxes every Monday to find new treasures to read and love. I would love to add these books to our collection!

This giveaway is truly amazing!!! So many incredible titles by many of the kindest, most generous authors! Many of whom I have had the pleasure of meeting, Skyping or talked Bc with via Twitter. Thank you and the authors in this giveaway for making a difference everyday. For providing us with the tools to meet our readers and enhancing our relationship with each student, one book a time! You all deserve a standing ovation. We are a TEAM! @caranewman12

Thank you Lynda for helping us teachers feel like heroes. This prize would be an awesome addition to any classroom library. I can imagine all the smiling faces as books begin to pour into the school that wins.

Wow. What an amazing giveaway! Thank you so much for taking the time to organize such a generous gift!
As a teacher, inspiring kids to read and giving them the gift of loving to read is my ultimate goal. I couldn’t do it without the amazing books written by authors like YOU! @iowaamber

Thank you so much for this incredible giveaway opportunity! Every child deserves the best of opportunities – and helping provide access to as many books as possible helps a love of reading come alive! Thanks y’all! #AuthorsLoveTeachers @readwritethrive

Thank you for recognizing teachers. As I scrolled through (3-4 times) I found myself smiling. What an amazing compilation of talent! As a reading interventionist in a Title I school it is my passion to build students’ love of reading. I see books on this list that I’ve book talked to my groups, to kids in the hallway during morning duty, and to my colleagues. I see books that I’ve reviewed on my blog, with hopes that families will pick them up at the library. I see books on this list that are on my ever expanding TBR list, waiting to be requested from the public library. Thank you for organizing this giveaway!

Wow! This giveaway is incredible! You could start a new classroom library with all these! It just goes to show how generous authors really are! Thank you for organizing all this and for the chance to win, Linda!

PS- It was so great meeting you and talking with you at #nerdcampLI. I hope to see you again soon!

Reading your love note to teachers and librarians made me tear up. We so appreciate the work authors do in sharing their stories with our students. The connections my students & I have been lucky enough to make via Twitter have been such a benefit to our reading community. The personal Skypes, the responses to our tweets, the swag…it goes a long way in reaching and motivating readers. Now, this is seriously the BEST giveaway on Earth (probably even the whole universe!) I truly am thankful for how much MG authors love teachers. Huge thanks to all who donated and autographed these marvelous books! 😘

Also shared on Facebook and Twitter and with my school colleagues via email. 🤞🏼
@KReilley5

“Children should have access to books that provide both mirrors and windows so they subconsciously build and image of who and what they could be.” My favorite book quote …I don’t know who wrote it, it was on the Mindshift blog.

So many books like these have changed the culture of my classroom year after year. As a teacher, I find myself eager to read more in order to keep up with the demand of books with such life-changing messages! We have had “read aloud playoff” brackets set up to determine read aloud text because we have such a hard time picking. Winning just one book would mean that someone else can share the magic in my 5th grade room. Thank you to all the authors who have changed me and my students!

This is incredibly generous!!! I am a second year 4th grade teacher still looking to grow her classroom library….this would be a dream! Let’s spread the passion for reading to the young minds of the world…. follow along with my classroom at @AshMcMichael 👩🏻‍🏫😊❤️

I have a couple student devouring every book i can put in front of them. This list is awesome! I dont have a funny thing to add really, just to tell you that my classroom of readers would love this and maybe i could suck in my reluctant readers too….. thank you for offering this!
Jodie Vivianojodie.viviano@oxfordschools.org
@jjviviano

Premillennialism, you have done it again! A wonderful collection of books ranging in content, genre and a welcome into any classroom library (beginning or building) as there is something for every learner to find themselves in & get lost within a great story! #AuthorsLoveTeachers @zeliamct

As a child books took me to all the places my feet and heart would later take me. Books were, indeed, my first valentine.
Twitter: @tweacher
Instagram: @happy_tweacher
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/1156430949

Thank you for this amazing giveaway!! As a first-year public elementary school librarian who has loved reading ever since I was young, I am falling more in love with the profession each and every day. I LOVE working with my students to find the perfect book for them. I have witnessed the wonderful power that books have by watching young readers respond so honestly and emotionally to texts that move them. I feel blessed to be a librarian. I am currently reading The Wild Robot by Peter Brown. @CarSmith1024

Thank you so much, Lynda! Authors like you continue to inspire and encourage young readers. This giveaway will connect so many of them with quality titles that will captivate them and create such excitement for the lucky winning school. Shared on twitter (@MrsPMedia)

This is incredible! Authors, thank you for giving teachers magic mirrors and windows of wonder with which to reach out to our students. It’s a gift every time I open pages and think, I know just who needs this story in his life. And it’s a double gift when I see her face when she hands the book back and says it was just the right one…or passes it directly on to another reader without even setting it on a shelf. You are so generous. (@ureadiread)

THANK YOU for recognizing teachers and showing appreciation. This is an awesome collection of books, and even if I’m not a winner, I’ll be saving this list when I add more to our classroom library! @kkstoots

I teach 7th grade ELA at a title one campus just outside of Houston, TX. Our classroom library is the heart of our classroom. My school was flooded throughout, by Harvey. I was worried that when we returned after the storm my students would miss the sofas and comfy chairs that I had purchased for our room, but child after child raced up to me and asked if our books were okay. I can’t tell you what it meant to hear their love of our library come through even in a time of so much loss. These kids, are “those kids” that people outside of the classroom love to profile as unlikely to succeed, but thanks to books, our students will prove each of them wrong. Donations like this are changing not only the lives of our students, but also the future of our world. Thank you for caring about our kids as much as we do.

Thank you, Lynda and Authors, for this amazing opportunity. Fish in the Tree had such an impact on my students and in my class as well. It introduced my students to 3 amazing characters Ally, Keisha and Albert who are able to overcome challenges by changing their mindset. My students really identified with the characters and so the discussion began in my class about growth mindset, which has transformed their thinking about themselves and the world. Thank you for your generosity and support of literacy and teachers around the world @kamla_sharbear

Thank you so much. You and your fellow authors make it worthwhile to teach because we have such great literature to share with our students! I would love to share these books with my classroom and Books and Bagels book club. @mrmayerreads

How lovely! Brave words on paper can be someone’s lifeline, someone’s hope, someone’s light. Books and stories and words have all saved me from the darkness. Thank you for rescuing our hearts so often.

I became a teacher to help those who need someone to believe in, someone to help than succeed, someone to be there after they leave my classroom. Books made me want that! My brother made me want that! I love my career!

Thank you for appreciating librarians and libraries! My students would love any of these wonderful titles! An especially grateful shoutout to Lynda and Katherine Applegate — your books have touched my students and moved them immensely. They love you!

What an amazing contest! It truly would be a lottery when to have all of these books in my hands to share with students! The part of my job I love the most is sharing my enthusiasm with students over authors and books. This collection of books it’s all of my favorites!

This is an amazing opportunity to share our love of reading with our students. Having a school where 98% of the students take out books and love to read, any and all recommendations for new books is something I look forward to everyday. Thank you and good luck to all those who are entering

Thank you for the kind words and wonderful “lottery” for teachers! It is amazing to see the power books have to impact young lives. There’s no better feeling than having a student come up smiling and talking about a book they loved, a book you helped them and:) With this list there is sure to be a perfect fit for everyone!

Ingrid Mayyasi
The authors who donated books for this giveaway are certainly very generous. It would be wonderful to add these books to my school library, my students would enjoy them a great deal. Thank you so much for organizing this, you will make a lot of students very happy with these wonderful books.imayyasi@dedham.k12.ma.us
@Ingrid01

What an amazing opportunity for educators to share a wide variety of books with their students. I have loved how eager my students are to share the books/authors they love with me and each other. Thank you for giving us the chance to connect students with so many amazing stories!

Thank you to every author/illustrator who donated to this generous giveaway. Every day your words sweep readers away to situations, places, and journeys that offer important mirrors, windows, and doors that can change their understanding of how to navigate their own experiences. THAT is the power of what you do! That I get the opportunity to be a conduit of connection between you and the readers you write for is a true honor.

You have once again out done yourselves!!!! What an amazing line up! My students would be OVER THE MOON for this amazing collection of books. Thanks for helping us teachers feel the love – We love you too!

What an amazing collection of books! All of these books will bring so much joy to the reading lives of the lucky students of the winner!
Authors and teachers of reading are really in this together! Your engaging books make our jobs SO much easier! @_Mr_Swanson_

Our fourth graders have been spending all year doing random acts of kindness with a weekly challenge, large projects, and living our lives with the motto, “Work hard, be kind.” We are currently reading Fish in a Tree and the students have been inspired to live their lives brave like Ally, confident like Keisha, intelligent like Albert, and with joy like Oliver- but never cruel like Shay or a follower like Jessica. Watch our kindness spreading on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter: #fieldkindness. This collection of books will help to inspire and motive our students that we are all heroes, capes or not! Thank you for your generosity and this opportunity! @kcmgd31

It truly does take a village…thank you for helping to get books into the hands of our young readers. I will be sharing this story with my kids and talking about the kindness of all involved. @readervator

WOW! This is the giveaway of all giveaways! As I was scrolling down I was thinking of students that I could recommend these to. Thank you so much for doing this! This will make someone very 😃! @CDavisRead

What a great opportunity! Thank you for offering this. My students would salivate if they knew that we could get so many books at once! Every time I go to the library and bring back more amazing middle grades books, I often have to ask three or four students vying for the same book to go “duke it out”. Without my intervention they come up with an agreement about who gets the book first and who is next in line when that person is finished. Love those “fights”. LOL @elisaw5

What a wonderful and gracious idea! I work with developing middle grade readers. I can teach them strategies all day, but the only thing that makes them want to read is seeing their classmates or me get cited about books. These wonderful books would make a great addition to our library. Nothing would please me more than to see their faces if we were to receive a whole bundle of new books! You are amazing! #AuthorsLoveTeachers

This is so generous of you! As an elementary school librarian, I am lucky to see the impact these books have on kids every single day, and it brings me as much joy as your amazing books bring them. Thank you! @ADLCD70

Wow! Not only do #AuthorsLoveTeachers but #TeachersLoveAuthors too! Our jobs become exponentially easier when we can put amazing books in kids’ hands! That’s the only way, in my opinion, to create a reader! So thank you MG Authors for your wonderful words! We love you! @dkking2011 on FB SCES 5th Grade

This is the most amazing, kind and thoughtful gift imaginable. Our students love books – largely because of many of these authors. It would be a dream come true to be able to shower our fifth graders with all of these absolutely amazing stories! Thank you so much! @LesleyScheele

All of these books are so amazing! I love how inspiring books can be for my students. Teachers can never have enough books in the classroom for our students. Thank you for this chance to win. @jenann4r

I would imagine that many of us became librarians because we wanted to share your stories – these stories- with children! Thank you for writing books that include all types of children. Everyone deserves to see themselves in the pages of a book! #AuthorsLoveTeachers!

Our students are drooling over this list of books! We can’t get over the kindness and generosity of all of these authors. You are amazing to put this together. Thank you so much for making a dream come true for a lucky classroom!

I’m excited that my reading support students continue to make strides and growth goals. It’s rough to see them leave, but it’s more sweet that they no longer need the support! Thanks for appreciating us. We love authors!

This is an amazing giveaway!! Books have such power in our childrens’ lives. As a teacher, I am fortunate to see children, who used to hate, reading find a book they love for the first time. This is because we have amazing authors for children’s literature. My job is to make sure my students have access to these amazing books 📖 on a daily basis. Thank you authors! @mrsdruffel

I was so pleased to see all the books I loved reading as I scrolled down. I am finding as I age along with teaching I am enjoying reading even more than ever. It is as if reading takes on a new meaning as we age and develop as people. Or maybe it is due to the reading community we find ourselves in. Reading is a solo task but you need a community to enjoy and develop book love. Thank you for this opportunity and for the work of so many authors! They are brightening the world and opening a new world for so many of our readers!!! #booklove. #authorsloveteachers.

@riverfieldllc
Thank you, Lynda! As a school librarian, I am honored every day to have the opportunity to put books into the hands (and hearts) of children. Is there anything better than when a student comes to the library and tells you they stayed up all night reading because they just had to finish this book– and then asks for another one? Thank you for supporting the work we do, and for appreciating and loving us! We love you– and your wonderful books– too!

This collection is so, so fabulous! Your love for teachers and librarians is much needed and so appreciated. Here is one story (of many) from my elementary school library from Valentine’s Day last year:
<>

I absolutely canNOT believe this compilation of books! I’m hoping this is OK, but I’m entering this on behalf of my daughter-in-law. She doesn’t have a Twitter handle and I’m not comfortable with putting up her email address (will gladly do it privately if she wins!), so I’m speaking for her 🙂

Suzanne is a teacher at heart, without question. She teaches Special Ed for 3rd-thru-5th graders. It requires a tremendous amount of patience and heart to do this every day, especially when there are students who can be especially trying. But it doesn’t damper her drive to give them the best she can–which includes instilling a love for reading, her being an avid book lover herself (I’ve always envied her ability to speed read!) and championing the importance of reading.

I try to help fill her classroom library by buying used books from bookstores and libraries, but this collection is something I (nor she) can afford, and would be THRILLED to have, though I’m sure many would go into the school’s library, not just her own classroom. Just the thought of these books is choking me up for whomever wins it. What a great gift from all the authors to people who deserve them most—treasured teachers and librarians. Thanks to ALL of you for your generosity and show of appreciation 😀 😀 😀 oxoxox

This collection is so, so fabulous! Your love for teachers and librarians is much needed and so appreciated. Here is one story (of many) from my elementary school library from Valentine’s Day last year:
<>

Shared on Facebook (Amy Bahaynah) and Twitter (@Asoymaestra143) with #somuchloveinthelibrary

Somehow the story got truncated out. Here it is:
“It’s Valentine’s Day! In an elementary school, that means flashy cartoon cards with fake tattoos, gooey pink cupcakes with fingerprints in the frosting, and SO. MUCH. CANDY. But the best thing about today was a Valentine’s gift brought into the library by one of my firsties. It was a black shopping bag carefully wrapped around a hardcover book that she had borrowed from her after-school program teachers. She wanted me to read it to my students today and then give it back to her so she could return it on time. The absolute most precious thing was the hand-written card that obviously took her a long time to get on paper. It reads, “You can borrow a book. I brought you a heart. You are neat and you are a book reader. I love books, so do you. You are sweet. You are lovely, too. You read books fantastic. From “Librarian *her name*.” Heart melted. She sees herself as a reader. She calls herself a librarian. She chose to share her heart (and a borrowed book!) with me on this Valentine’s Day. 💗📚💗
#hopeforthefuture #somuchloveinthelibrary #iamapublicschoolteacher #ilovemypublicschool”

Shared on Facebook (Amy Bahaynah) and Twitter (@Asoymaestra143) with #somuchloveinthelibrary

It is such a wonderful feeling to be appreciated. I am lucky to be able to share wonderful stories, that talented authors write, with striving readers. On “Book Talk Fridays,” it would be wonderful to be able to share that awesome group of books with students who are just learning the magic that is books. Thank you for this opportunity! #AuthorsLoveTeachers Twitter: @DiestlerClasses & @nancydiestler

Thank you SO MUCH for sharing the love this Valentine’s day! Jane Austen famously said, “There is no enjoyment like reading.” It’s so true! There is nothing like getting lost in a good book. Thanks for making that happen for so many! You are AWESOME!

Reading a great story is more than a pass time, it’s an experience. A great story can change you forever, make you think about yourself and others in a completely new and different way. The only gift that is greater than the author to the reader is when a librarian has the opportunity to put that same gift in the hands of a child. Nothing better EVER. Thank you authors and providers for these amazing books and for remembering our work.

What an amazing selection of books that my students and I can go on an adventure with…I always tell them if you don’t like reading it’s becUsr you haven’t found the right book, YET! There are so great new authors for us to explore…there maybe a magic one for my reluctant readers one that will open their eyes to a world beyond their own…

The two words, “thank you” seem so miniscule for such a monumental effort and haul of an incredible middle-grade book line-up! I know my readers better this year than ever, thanks to the investment of time in conferring with readers daily. There is a book for every child out there – sometimes, it takes a little longer to find the one to make a difference in reading habits. It would be an honor to win this stash to share with my colleague and fourth grade students! Thanks for sharing the book love and Happy Valentine’s Day!

Wow! What a giveaway! My 4th and 5th graders would love these stories. They love to book talk books and these books would be a great addition to my classroom library. Thank you! @pbas5
I did retweet your giveaway. 🙂

This is such a wonderfully generous giveaway. I have spent so much of my own money to buy brand new books for my kiddos. I love to have that moment with them when we take a few minutes to savor a brand new book. The smell! The smooth spine! The beauty of the cover art! Aaahhhhh. When we dove in it’s with love and respect for where these books can take our minds and hearts. @missemzee

Lynda, thank you so much! This is an outpouring of generosity that is so appreciated! It is you and many, many other children’s lit authors that I thank. You provide a platform for kids to see themselves in books. You help kids recognize they are not alone. Thank you for this amazing gift during Random Acts of Kindness Week!

It all began with a book. The power of reading is amazing, once you get your students hooked they can’t stop and you’ve succeeded. In my classroom we’ve read many of these titles. Books take the kids to places they could never imagine and teach them lessons they may never come across in real life. Yay reading!

Kid Lit authors have literally changed my way of teaching and my personal reading life.
Teachers: if you are unsure about approaching your child favorite author, TRY! They are the most kind souls and they truly love what they do and want to hear from those kids!
Authors: Thank you. From an educator who loves reading as much as you love writing, I am beyond thrilled for this opportunity. So many of you are personal favorites and student favorites. Can never have too many books.
Twitter & Insta: @mrs_cmt1489

So grateful for amazing authors!! Their amazing books provide my students with windows and mirrors! They bring such rich conversations and help my students become more compassionate people!! @meaganhparrish meaganhparrish@gmail.com

Thank you so much for this opportunity! I am a Literacy Coach hoping to get a job back in the classroom this coming year and would love to chance to grow my library with this amazing selection of books!

Thank you so much for the kind thoughts and words. Your books, the featured authors here and so many others make a significant impact on my students every day. My entire life I have had a deep passion for reading and now I do my best as a teacher to instill that same feeling into my students. I do say that this is quite a prize and I thank you for thinking of teachers and librarians when putting this together. We all so appreciate it. Instagram: @dakota_darling

All I can say is, this is amazing! It’s so nice to hear the positive words and recognition for all the hard work that teachers do day in and day out. I have so many book lovers in my classroom, as well as my own kids, that would go absolutely bananas for these books. And knowing that makes my heart full, and shows me that I am doing my job and raising readers! Thanks for such a wonderful giveaway…the winner is one lucky teacher!

Hello! Our whole school is reading Nine, Ten: A September 11 Story, by Nora Raleigh Baskin, and we love it! Thank you to the authors for giving young adults great material for learning. Lucille M. Brown Middle School Library.
#AuthorsLoveTeachers #Teachers Love Authors

I tried to post this earlier, and I don’t think it went through, so I hope it doesn’t post twice. We recently hosted a “Diverse Books Day” at my school with a variety of author panels and book discussions. Now my seventh and eighth graders are more interested in reading stories about people unlike them and are asking me to specifically point out diverse books in my classroom library! Win!!

Teachers love authors, too! Thank you to all of the authors that work so hard to create beautiful stories that provide so much for my students; a place to escape, a place to learn, a place to grow. I shared on twitter – @berlinclassroom. #AuthorsLoveTeachers

Such a great collection of books shown! My students this year are huge readers and that is from the works you and other authors create! Your stories inspire them and help them to grow not only as readers, but also as people. Thanks for creating escapes and safe places with literature! @MrsZastrow2

Wow! What an awesome collections of books! I try each year to add newer books to my shelves in order to continue to build a community of readers. Thank you for honoring us! My students would be so lucky to have these books in our classroom.

What an amazing collection of books! I just shared this list of books with my students, and the general consensus seems to be, “Whoah!!! We need those books!”
Thank you for organizing this. I’d love to get these titles into the hands of my kiddos this year! Thanks for the opportunity!!
@Bpacker15

And……………….teachers LOVE authors! You guys are rock stars in how you reach kids through words. It’s such a joy to share literature with kids and be fortunate enough to see them in ourselves changed by it. Keep writing! I’m sharing on facebook and twitter and with all librarians in my district right now. @LindaMitch2783hubeimom@yahoo.com

Hosted our 5th annual “Blind Date with a Book” in our MS library today! It was a hit with 42 students enjoying our wrapped up new books we’ve been saving just for this special day. Such fun to watch how excited they are to open a book!

What a wonderful and thoughtful giveaway! I love that the picture books are included with the novels! I love to go into classrooms in my middle school and read picture books to the kids. They love them and I love reading them. We just finished up “One Word from Sophie” for a debate project! crothersr@verizon.net @brewlibrarian

Wow, what an incredible giveaway! My students would be thrilled to read so many of these titles! Thank you so much for sponsoring this. I shared on Twitter and Facebook. Thank you again! @sleary1023svieron@gmail.com

What an wonderful collection of books! I would love to have these to share with my 7th and 8th graders.
A few years ago, after being more intentional about learning my students’ interests and building a classroom library that reflects those interests, I had a student write to me, saying, “I’m really starting to like reading because if I had to read before I would have wanted to cry, but now I enjoy reading and I like the books I have chosen to read.” Since then, it has been my goal to grow my classroom library, to share amazing books with students, and to help students discover who they are as readers. It would be such a treat to share these with my students! Thank you for thinking of us and for organizing this!

My driving passion is the moment when that reluctant reader rushes up all smiles and says, “Mrs. Bates! I found the most awesome book!” Thank you, authors, for putting those books in their hands. We teachers salute you! ❤️ @lanab03

Thank you so much for your generosity along with the other authors. This giveaway is so kind. So many of these titles are favorites of our students and there are many that I am still unfamiliar with. I know and feel the students’ smiles and joy when they receive books from love and those who cherish reading as they do. These are inspirational for our students and help to create a lifetime love of reading. Thank you again.

My students would loves these books. There are so many awesome books in this give away I would be so excited to share with them and also do as read alouds. I have started sharing a few of these titles through the year and students want to check them out at our library. I would love to have them be able to borrow them from my library. This is my second year teaching 6th grade ELA and I still get excited sharing new books with students or old favorites. Thank you to the authors who are sharing their work with us and giving students an opportunity to get great literature in their hands. @avd111

I kept scrolling through the list of books thinking there can’t be this many! Oh my, Lynda! What an amazing gift. I’m so grateful to all the people in the kidlit community…from both the book creation end to the distribution end including my colleagues and students who challenge me every day to be a better educator and a better human being. So lucky to have found this beautiful space to learn and grow.

Wow, I started scrolling and thought: “Oh, I love that book! Oh, great author! Oh, I want to read that one!” And then I kept scrolling and scrolling and scrolling!! So many books, so much amazingness! Thank you for your message and your work to pull this together. Even for all the “nonwinners” that recognition and sentiment is a gift! @BlueSockGirl https://twitter.com/BlueSockGirl/status/963875767049445378

You never know when a book will resonate with a reader. I made one small comment about a book last week that I’ve made many times before, without getting any readers interested. But this time, one of my students grabbed the book and read it and loved it. Those are the moments that keep us going as teachers!

I have moved from being a reading intervention teacher to a literacy coach a few years ago allowing me to not only share my passion with students but to help my fellow educators improve their practice. I see some of my favorites in this give away but also some I have not had the pleasure of reading yet. Thank you so much for organizing this! @ABuccheriELA

This is a pretty stinkin’ impressive list of books and authors. Thank you for the opportunity to share a bit of our world with you!

Last school year I read Fish in a Tree. I loved the story and instantly fell head over heels for it. Mostly because I saw a little bit of my young struggling reader self (not dyslexic but struggling) and I instantly saw one of my fourth grade students in Ally. As I read I pictured my student as Ally. Struggling with her disabilities but wanting it so badly. When I was finished reading I casually suggested I’d found a book she would love. To my surprise she checked out the book (a larger book than I had ever seen her choose before). Upon the book’s return she told me she liked it. I feel like this student and I have a special bond over Fish in a Tree. She hasn’t given me any trouble since and always has a book! Thank you Lynda and all authors for allowing us (all of us) to find a character we can relate to and find a bit of ourselves in!

I didn’t have a love for reading till my daughter was born, she is an IVF baby, we can not have children on our own, we waited ten years and she is our little miracle, we read books to her from day 1 and have not stopped, now her love for reading had grown and she reads everyday and every night, she is now 7 years old and in second grade, we love our local library, we have been to many author events and she is just in love with reading and that has given me an amazing love for children’s books, we donate many books to our school and share our books with friends and family, now I share my love for reading with the students I teach and we are volunteering to help re-do our teacher’s book room at our school, we are excited for our book fair coming up and more adventures we will have reading!

WOW!!!! These are some of the best books out there, by the most amazing authors. Thank YOU for all you do to make our jobs as teachers easier. Your books inspire kids more than you will ever know!
Twitter: @mrs_antolik

WOW! Lynda – this is such a wonderful opportunity you are providing to those of us who are book lovers always looking to match the right book with the right reader. This collection is amazing! Thank you to you and your author friends who contributed. We are so grateful to you and your dynamic way with words. Books + Readers = Joy! Retweeted on Twitter. @CBckehan

Wow! This is amazing! I teach reading and I can truly say my students are discovering a love of reading when I introduce them to a new book! It would be amazing to add such a wide range of books to my library as my students are all so unique!

Fantastico! Happy Valentine’s Day, Lynda! Currently writing student progress reports and looking through their reflections. Many of them identified reading Fish in a Tree and meeting you as highlights of the year so far! Fondly, Joshua and his 4/5 class.

Thank you so much for your words of encouragement and understanding and thanks to you and all the other amazing authors who contributed books to this giveaway! I’ve switched careers many times from writer/editor to ESOL teacher and now to school librarian. The biggest joy I’ve had in this, my first year in the library, is reading aloud to the students at our school and sharing books I think they would love. I’m excited to discover or reread every book on this wonderful list. Thank you for the opportunity to have a chance at winning this book lover’s dream! wiesnemb@pwcs.edu.

I have spent the last few days hearing from teachers about empathy as a predictor of success. I can think of no better way to build that capacity in our students than to read…read about everyone and everything and watch hearts grow large and minds expand. Thank you authors and illustrators for giving us these tools. They are treasures!

As an 8th grade English teacher, I unfortunately witness students slowly lose their love and devotion for reading as their schoolwork and extracurriculars intensify. However, I share my love of books by constantly reading and recommending current YA literature to my students. And with this challenge, there is no better feeling than reaching even the most reluctant non-reader with an amazing novel that speaks to them. Year after year, I have watched countless students cringe in September when I tell them that we will enjoy independent reading time every. single. day. But by providing them a choice AND amazing options, I can always find a book for every student…and it’s those books that become the most-loved titles in the classroom. Thank you to Lynda and all of these authors for writing novels that reach every student, and for re-instilling in my students the love of reading.
@MrsPagnaniBPMS

This is so exciting! Thank you to everyone for making such a give away possible. I teach lower level 8th grade students. I read a chapter book to them, read a picture book daily, and also book talk daily. We are a literary rich classroom.

Thank you so much for your work and the opportunity to be a part of this giveaway! Books are the only safe place that some of our students have. Thanks for the part that you play in bringing joy to students and teachers as well!

The best part about my job as a teacher is helping a child who claimed to be a “non-reader” fall in love with reading. Having them say, “I am a reader!” is music to my ears, soul and heart.
Ruthannmayeselmar@gmail.com

I love my job! I get to spend every day with 5-10 year olds and introduce them to old and new favorites. I’m slow at cataloging, processing & acquiring books, and I have a sweet kindergartener who has asked me every week since before Christmas for ‘that bird book’ (Red & Lulu by Matt Tavares)… I guess I need to get on that 😉 -Angie @almemoore

Wow! I smiled at each book as I scrolled through the amazing titles, thinking about the ones that are old friends and ones I haven’t met yet. I also thought about my 72 readers and my own 3 children who would scream with joy if I were to be the lucky winner of this treasure trove. Whoever wins these books will get the ultimate gift of putting them into the hands of their students which makes my heart happy…no one loses in that scenario! Thank you for this amazing generosity to the teacher/librarian world. kearnsb@tesd.net

Wow! The lineup of books here is amazing! Thank you to all of the authors who are participating! As a K-12 librarian, I appreciate your work so much and LOVE that the industry continues to grow and expand. You are reaching our readers and I love being the “middle man”!
@micgreen on Twitter

This has to be the best giveaway ever! Teachers who are out there, sharing book love with kids and inspiring readers, what a treat this would be! I can only hope to possibly be the lucky winner! There are so many books in this pile on my to-be-read list!!

My daughter has been a teacher for 17 years! She teaches in a 3rd grade class that has some children who don’t get the care they need at home. I cannot imagine how excited she would be to share these amazing books with her students. This is the only way these children will ever be exposed to children’s literature of this caliber. Teachers certainly don’t get enough praise and rewards for all their hard work and caring for their students.
Her school is Angie Grant Elementary in Benton, AR. 72015
Her school email is bshelton@bentonschools.org
I hope she wins!!!

As a teacher-librarian, I get to share my love of the written word, create a culturally sensitive, learner-centered environment and teach research and 21st-century skills all at the same time.

If we want to reach our struggling students, and promote literacy courage in young students, we must use head books in the curriculum. We need to teach young children that literacy still is the ultimate adventure, and they too have the chance to be the hero. Not only does it allow students to express their knowledge and comprehension through an alternative medium, but also it makes students more comfortable with literacy as a whole.

I am so inspired to get great lit in the hands of of my students so that they can start their own book bits. @thelivbits motivated me to give my kids a voice and the power of feedback from a global audience.

Oh my goodness, I don’t know if I could be more excited! My students LOVE many of these books, and I would love to introduce them to the rest! Thank you for taking the time to share the love, and for supporting teachers and librarians all year long. You all know we love you too!! On twitter @GaelynJenkins

Authors are superheroes to teachers and librarians, but most importantly students. They allow students to find themselves, to lose themselves, to laugh, to cry and to live a thousand experiences that they would never have the opportunity to live “in real life”. The authors in this collection have allowed me to help my students learn and grow. I am grateful to each of them for their role in my students’ lives. @portablemagics

I was conferencing with a student yesterday about the amazing amount of growth he’s made in reading this year. His response was, “Wow! I’ve never really considered myself a reader because I mainly read graphic novels…” It is statements like these that make me happy for the KidLit Community. Together we can change this thinking! Thank you for writing stories for children!

Thank you- this is amazing😻 The favorite part of my job as a librarian is providing authentic literature for them. Your list is phenomenal! This year I have a student named Hunter that I’m giving books to read faster than I can, so he’s my book ‘reviewer’ fir the other kids! There’s nothing better than peer to peer recommendations😺 @pes_library

Wonderful books and very kind of all the authors to donate. I’ve read many of these and smile at the thought of a student getting the same happiness I did reading them the first time! You know it’s a great book when you are sad to get to the … last…. page…. 🙂

Wow, . . . there are so many phenomenal texts on this list! As the reading specialist for my elementary school, I know how powerful books with strong messages can be in inspiring all readers, but especially those for whom reading may not always come easily. I would love to share this collection with the students in my literacy intervention group, as well as offer them as part of my lending library to my colleagues and students who visit me at recess. Thank you so much for offering to share these with a school; this is so very generous and thoughtful! Thank you for choosing kind . . .

This contest is just ridiculous!! Looking through the books I felt a little sick to my stomach thinking I could win ALL those books.
I’m not sure I could handle it. My 5th graders think I have a very serious book problem and many are concerned about my well being. Book talking the 2-3 middle school books I read a week is the true highlight of my job! Spread the enthusiasm!! @kate.mccueday Instagram #katesummerofbooks

Your words open doors for students who sometimes desperately need the comfort of falling into the pages. Thank you for finding ways to connect students to characters making many feel less alone in the worlds. #AuthorsLoveTeachers @rlfreedm sharing on twitter and Facebook

I work in a diverse district and nothing makes me happier than finding a character in a book that I can see reflected in one of my students. Whether it be rich, poor, white, hispanic, black, transgender, gay, confused, assertive, bullied, hopeless, hopeful, whatever the characteristic. Giving that book to a middle schooler and letting them know that they are not alone is the best part of my job as a librarian!

This morning I watched a group of elementary students joyfully leap around the library shouting ‘It’s Bookmas! It’s Bookmas!” as they carried the newly revealed books. Our librarian had just received our yearly order of new books. The gasps of excitement and seeing them beg to check some out immediately absolutely made my day. Books are an adventure everyone deserves to have! 🙂 @cbsteach

It would love to win one signed book so winning all of this would be amazing! But honestly, the kind words brought tears to my eyes – it is so very nice to feel appreciated- especially when budgets are so small. The kids get it though and love coming to the library and they are why I do what I do. I would love to be able to put these books in their hands. Thank you for putting this together! @BWLibrary_Lady

What an amazing collection of books by amazing authors! Reading is a great way to connect with students and open lines of communication about important topics. Some of my best moments as a teacher are the things students have shared with me about book talks! Thank you to my teachers who shared great literature with me and to all the students who love reading with me!

Wow! Winning one signed book would be great, but to win all of these would be amazing! Thank you for your kind words and for putting this together. I would love to be able to put these books in my students’ hands. @BWLibrary_Lady

What an awesome idea! It is so nice to know that to someone we are superstars! You see parades for sports players all the time, but never for teachers, librarians or administrators! Thank you for thinking of all the educators who strive to make the world a better place for our most important resource- our children! Thank you to all the authors that participated and to Lynda for organizing it

I teach K-6 prep at my school – Language Arts and Mathematics. A little guy who I had for Language Arts last year, and now have for Math, gazed longingly at my bookshelf and sighed, “How come you don’t read to us this year?” (when I actually do – any math related book I can find!).
Reading, any kind, is the best part of my day as a teacher. I can see something for everyone in the amazing list of books above. What a great gift for someone. Thank you.
I will share the link on Twitter as well – @LC27LadyB

This is truly an amazing kid lit collection! So many incredible stories to enrich the lives of our students and build empathy in young readers. This year our library’s theme is “Read With Your Head and Your Heart”, very appropriate for this Valentine’s Day give-away! Thank you for your kindness and generosity! Write on authors!
@scmslibrary

This is a wonderful giveaway. The Kid lit community is so wonderful and giving. What a wonderful way to pass along the love of literature. There are so many amazing stories which I already love and many of students already love and many more that I can’t wait to read and know my students will love.

Thank you for such a generous gift. My students love having a diverse classroom library, and these titles would certainly boost our choices. Reading can take you to so many places. More importantly, books can provide mirrors and windows for our students. I experienced that first hand today when a student was expressing empathy towards a character that might have gone unnoticed if he had not read the book. Sharing on Twitter as well @cindymullin.

What an amazing collection of books that share the stories, triumphs and struggles of a myriad of characters. Thank you for making and taking time to recognize teachers and librarians who work each and everyday to help children develop a life long love affair with reading.
One of the best parts of my job is being able to read picture books and middle grade books so that I can play matchmaker. I know when I’ve set a readers hear on fire when they turn around and do the same for me— match me to a book that changed their reading and thinking.
I started a parent/child bookclub a few years ago. We spent 3rd-5th grade together reading and discussion books each month. It was wonderful to hear from parent and child’s perspectives. It was amazing to see that even though we came from different socio-economic levels, countries, faiths, family dynamics and political beliefs, we were able to come together because of our love for books and the power they have to change our hearts. Thank you for equipping someone with books that will do just that— speak to hearts and open minds to conversations and ideas!

What an amazing collection of books! This is my first year teaching only reading and writing and I have fallen hard in love with so many new books and authors. My class is alive with reading like it has never been before. We have a bunch of skypes set up that the kids are so pumped about! I feel so lucky to have connected with you all on Twitter! #hypedtoskype #teachersloveauthorstoo! @msslayton5th

This post and this contest make my heart happy! It’s amazimg as a school librarian to connect with so many authors on social media! What an amazing collection of books! Jilldodge@eudoraschools.org @jilldodgelms

Nothing compares to seeing a child’s face light up when they finally get the copy of a title they have been waiting to read. Our library has a very limited budget and replacing worn copies or adding another title to a beloved text would be a blessing. Thankful to #AuthorsLoveTeachers

This giveaway is amazing. I see every day how much reading helps students to grow. I love that my job involves putting the right books into students’ hands. Thank you to all the authors that participated in this. @weyhighlibrary

Wow! I have spent the past 3 days being totally inspired at #PETE2018, PA’s amazing tech conference, and now more teacher / librarian love. Best Valentine’s Day ever. I am on a mission to get every teacher and teacher-in-training that I know to read Fish in a Tree. @ttaylor217

I went back to school and became a new teacher at 47. I love books and am working hard to build my book library. Nothing makes me happier than finding the right book for my students and get them interested in reading.

My students had a very rough week, but when I brought back a lot of ARCs from ALA to share, one little girl said “At least I will have something to take my mind off everything!” I have already purchased many of these, but would be glad to share with other schools in my district. Thank you for all the work you did putting this together! https://twitter.com/MsYingling/status/963937394478198784 @msyingling

Thank you so much for making this lovely prize available to school librarians and our readers! There are a good many of these awesome titles that we don’t have – my students are big readers and would be thrilled to win! @mrspowers_reads

As a middle school library media specialist, I love being able to read middle level books. From the cover artwork and through the pages… I love the stories that books tell, connections that books make, and the knowledge that books give us. It warms my heart when students find that “just right” book that makes a difference in their life.

Every year, I get new faces -6th and 7th graders who have no idea the wild ride they have just boarded by walking into my room. Every face fronts a soul that is heavy with the need to find stories that match their own, stories that show them the world beyond their shoetips, stories that show them fantastical possibilities. And I get to provide those stories, again and again, thanks to authors like you who carve your souls onto pages to welcome their souls into your worlds. Thank you!
@MojoFingerswisniewskijb@vvsd.org

I would love to spread the love and share these books with my middle schoolers – by handing out many to other teachers, too! Thank YOU, authors, for this love for educators. It’s surely reciprocal, as you get our future READING!!
~ @JoyKirr
Here’s my tweet to get more educators in love with these books: https://twitter.com/JoyKirr/status/963941972464500737

Thank you for putting such a lovely collection of books together that will surely bring a smile to any teacher and their students. It’s nice to see both non-fiction and fiction titles included. I know I have students who are just as happy to find and checkout the latest science or car book than a novel.

Hello
What an inspiring and exciting set of books! I am a literacy specialist who works with striving redapaders. They need many choices to hook them into reading. Signed by the author will further entice them. . Thank You!

I have a quote on my classroom wall that says, “A book is a magical thing that lets you travel to far away places without ever leaving your seat.” The amazing books in this giveaway will prove to my students that this quote is true! Thank you for appreciating teachers. I appreciate you. @turneyc

I love youth novels! I love kids that love youth novels! Read aloud is my favorite time of the day. All of these books would be amazing and the ones that are duplicates will go in the birthday giveaway bin. What a cool opportunity.

What an amazing collection of books for all readers, young and old! My students would love to get their hands on them and so would their librarian. 🙂 #readersareleaders #addictedtobooks Shared on Twitter @SShepReads

What a giveaway. Thanks! Love being on the same team. You all write them and we share them and talk about them! You help us open the door to the love of reading. There are more than a few
Books on here that I have shared with students and they have shared with me. Including Lynda’s…I actually had a student who wanted to read it because she totally related to the MC. Why? She managed to do the same thing until
She got to our school. Those kinds of connections are priceless. Your books are, as Grace Lin says…windows and mirrors. Thank you for that.

Ths is such a generous and exciting Valentine offer. It made me smile even more than when my student gave me a Valentine Whoopi cushion that said, “Love is a gas.” She is also the same student in a small book group reading Fish in a Tree. These books would be great additions to my library! @gwmemorialmedia

This. Is. SO. Perfect!!!
Today my 5th graders made a Valentine for a book that they LOVE! It’s their words that inspire ME:
“Dear Mayday, You really showed me how to stay strong. I always will love you.”
And: “Dear Crossover, I love how your poems are so good and you made me love books.”
Thank you for the appreciation & chance to win these books …my teacher heart is full this Valentine’s Day! ♡

So many wonderful books here!! My students would love them! We watched the ALA Kidlit awards Monday, and my students heard of so many books they are interested in reading, however I teach in a low-income school and our library has not received funding in years, thus it is not up-to-date with titles. If we had these in our classroom, my students would be ecstatic!! Thanks for this opportunity 😊

Wow, wow, wow. Thank you for this opportunoty. So many books I’ve read. Loved The Thing About Jellyfish, Fish in a Tree, The War that Saved My Life and all the others roo many to name.
If I am lucky enough to win these will be given to students.
@JoneMac jone. macculloch at evergreenps dot org

This would *literally* be like winning the lottery! As a librarian in Newtown who has stumbled upon this post on Valentine’s Day evening after hours of tears for #Parkland, thank you for reminding me that the world of #KidLit always has our backs!!! Love to you all… 💕 @pialedina

I love the diverse literature here! I run a lending library with the ELLs I work with. My second grade started bringing books to their ELL time with us and reading while they walk (not exactly safe!) But it’s such a GOOD problem to have to tell students to stop reading @nicolemisra

Thank you so much for appreciating teachers. What an amazing giveaway! I have been so blessed to not only read fabulous #mglit books but also get to know and develop relationships with the authors through Twitter. So grateful for this #mglit community!

This list of books are amazing! So many great titles! Thank you! Even if I don’t win, this is an amazing giveaway, so thank you! There is nothing more rewarding then when a student comes up to your desk with a book and giant smile and says, “I finished it!” Then, you proceed to ask them how they liked it and they are already 20 words deep on how much they loved it! @5vitali

Wow – simply wow! Thank you for organizing – as a TL in a K-8 elementary school I know these titles have been and will be loved by our students and having the added bonus of the books being signed will be thrilling for students. I am on Twitter as @Lhnatiuk and I shared on my Facebook page as well.

This is one of the many reasons why I tell my students that authors and illustrators are some of the greatest people in the world! Putting the stories from amazing authors into the hands of children is a privilege and honor! Thank you, Lynda, for all the love you show us!

Teacher Librarians love authors! This is an amazing collection of books that any school would love to add (and should) to their collection. My twitter name is @lichrist and I will be sharing on my Facebook page.

Kudos to you for supporting teachers and librarians in the trenches with these amazing books. My favorite moment is seeing the smile on a student’s face when they get a book that they had on their wish list.

So many of these books have brought a smile to my face and my students’ faces! Wishtree, Fish in a Tree, and Home of the Brave were particularly powerful read alouds for my 4th graders last year and 5th graders this year. Thank you for your beautiful writing and for organizing this!

Reading helps us escape to new worlds. It helps us learn about new people and places. It helps us learn to sympathize with others, and find the wonder in things around us. Students can do all of these things with these books! I am the Professional Development Coach at my school. This teaching position helps me to reach all students and staff. Winning this set of books would help instill wonder in ALL of our students! @AlissaGuevara1

Great literature, or more specifically getting the right book to the right kid, is life changing; when years have passed and names forgotten kids will still remember that amazing book you made them want to read! @JennyKaste

I cannot believe this give away is real! My school is lucky enough to be hosting Victoria J. Coe, author of the “Fenway and Hattie” series, at our school today and tomorrow who just so happens to be the one who told me about this incredible book collection give away. The titles presented in this would be phenomenal additions to our library that will continue to allow my readers to connect, discuss, and fall in love with books. The power of books is a wonderful thing. A member of my school’s Mock Newbery Committee says it best, “No books are bad, just some books are great!”

This is so incredible that you are doing this! I’m a middle school Media Specialist and I have been so blessed to see kids who were below grade level and the picture of reluctant readers fall in love with reading. I can’t keep books on the shelves and the students are flooding in everyday looking for their next book. I truly have the best job ever!

This is an amazing giveaway with so many titles that I know my students would love! Whenever we receive new titles in my room, we hold a raffle to see who will be the lucky person to do the inaugural reading in our rom of each book!

Highlights of my of my day included introducing a child to Captain Underpants, helping a child practice the art of book selection, and reading Matt de la Peña’s and Loren Long’s “Love” with ninety 2nd graders. Not a bad day at “work”! Thank you for supporting teachers and librarians. I would love to put these books into the hands of young readers!
Twitter @WendyPayer
Instagram @bookish_giraffes

Reading for me as always been something In enjoy doing wjth my students. To see their eyes light up when we dive into a new adventure, brings me such great joy. Thank you for giving teachers & librarians the opportunity to build their libraries so that children can experience all the amazing books our country has ton offer.

Teachers love authors! Thanks to the authors writing the stories that need to be shared. Thank you for taking the time to respond to a tweet, Skype with a class, or mail some bookmarks. Thank you for being real. You make reading an exciting, thought provoking, authentic experience for our kids.
@MrsShadish

Thank you wonderful authors for donating all of these books. As a Elementary school librarian at a school with 98% free lunch, my students truly appreciate books. Due to the high poverty rates of students my library maybe the only place where they can get a book. For several of my students reading books offers them a safe place. A place where they can find happiness in a world of chaos. A place where they can read about characters that they can relate to and see themselves in a book. Authors help create those places in the pages of their books.

So many amazing authors, so many amazing books!!! From my own child’s love of Josh Funk and Sir French Toast (he has drawn a sequel and is ready for a book signing. It makes me laugh because he is 5 and has come along with me to book signings at various book stores so he thinks that he should sign his book as well 😂😂) to my students love of Ivan, Fenway, and Ally. These books are amazing for any age. Thank you authors for writing meaningful stories that touch the heart of a generation that is getting more and more difficult to reach. Nothing is better than reading aloud to my class and seeing even the most defiant “unreachable” (others words not mine) student pause to listen to the read aloud. That is what teaching is about. Reaching the “unreachable” at the same level/time as the “honor” student so they can see that despite everything they are not so different after all. ❤️
@MrsC_room14
third grade 👩‍🏫 Massachusetts

Scrolling through this list of amazing books makes my heart so happy. I think of all of the smiling faces of former and current students who have read these books. Students who have had their hearts touched and lives changed because of the stories that they have read. Thank you for organizing such an awesome give away. I’ve read many on this list, but two stick out – The Perfect Score so relatable to teachers and students and The War I Finally Won – a book that made me feel every emotion and made me a better teacher and person.

What an amazing line up I can share with kids! Our district is Title I and building classroom libraries is our DREAM and a very slow process! With every book we add brings so much joy! Theses books would be loved!

Omg what a wonderful opportunity. So many books that I want to read and share. My students love your book and we read it every year. (Twitter-bubbamommy1, email lcrozier@att.net). Thank you for the chance to win!

Gratitude and kindness is what comes to mind as I think about the opportunity that the many authors are providing by supplying children with books that may be the mirror or window that they needed. Helping children become lifelong readers starts when they find the right book. It is my passion to help these children who will be forever grateful for the kindness I have offered in helping them to find that book! Authors and teachers are the TEAM that these children need. Thank you Kid Lit!! #AuthorsLoveTeachers @NicoleMWise

What a great collection and such generosity to give them all away. My students and teachers already love some of these books and I would love to be able to share the rest. These books make us think and allow us to enter worlds that expand our experiences and help us develop empathy. Something that is so needed in our country today!

This is such a beautiful and brilliant tribute to the work that teachers do, and the work that authors do–both with the same goal in mind: to help kids become socially conscious, kind, tolerant, good and just human beings. My heart has grown at least three sizes just reading this post, and the comments from educators. All of these books are so important for kids to have access to, each with important messages of identify, character building,

I am in awe of this collaboration of such respected and revered authors. It is such a joy to be able to share your works, and my passion for reading with my students. They feel so special and proud when one of your books speaks to them, and they feel seen and heard. Middle school can be such a tricky time for kids, and it is through reading that many students find a mirror or window through which they find comfort and a home.

Providing students with a classroom library full of great writing, relatable characters, important themes, diversity and inclusion, and high-interest storylines is my mission.

My students would love these! They would line up to booktalk them, write and record podcasts about them, and share it all on Twitter. @LauersLibrary

I have always told my students that reading takes you places and allows you to meet people you may never have the chance to in your lifetime. Opening a book will open windows and doors into new worlds you didn’t know existed. The opportunity to have these books, signed by the authors, in our school library would be so amazing. Our students could make connections between the writers and the stories! Thank you for the opportunity! ❤️

You know you have a winner on your hands when a student shares her progress in a book every day! One of my students is savoring Fish in a Tree, only reading a chapter at a time. She loves the book and it is one of the reasons I advocate for choice in our school library! Sharing on Twitter and Facebook so others can feel the love! @katmalmquist

The list of books has this librarian book nerd geeking out! What a wonderful opportunity for a librarian to obtain so many amazing books to add to their libraries to share with their readers. Thank you Lynda for organizing this giveaway! Fish In A Tree- is the book I tell my students about because it’s my heart print book. @charlottepolk71

What a wonderful collection of books! I am currently at a school that had no librarian last year and the kids are so happy to finally get new books! Thank you for supporting schools, libraries and teachers.

Holy guacamole – I couldn’t believe all the author love for teachers and librarians! Such an amazing collection! I bet the winner plans to pay this bookish gift forward to kiddos and fellow educators and book lovers!
Thanks for the opportunity!!!!
Christina Rayner
@ReadSoMuch

I teach in a low-income school, and our school library has been dissolved, so I am the only way our students can get books outside of the public library. I would be so forever grateful for this giveaway because my students are amazing and deserve ALL THE BOOKS but I can only give them a select few. I even had a student say, today, “Miss…all these books look so interesting! I can’t choose!” And my heart both exploded into a million pieces, but it also felt heavy because this child thought my tiny little library was both inspiring and stacked…I wish I could make it the best library possible! It is just so expensive.

Anyway, I love literature, I love my kids, and I love bridging these two worlds. You have no idea what a library like this would do for me and my students.

Thank you so much for your dedication to teachers and librarians. Tise amazing list has several in my TBR stack! My fifth graders would LOVE winning his collection for our classroom library. It is the heart of our classroom!
@donnawstark

I am so excited about this giveaway! Thank you so much for the opportunity. One of the hardest part of providing good books is getting access to them. One of my more advanced readers came to me today and said, “Look Mrs Manson, I have my own personal Library”. She had filled her desk with books from the public library and her house, because unfortunately our library doesn’t have books that interest her or challenge her enough. @beka_manson

Thank you so much for this opportunity to get some GREAT books into our classrooms. I am excited for the students of whoever wins! You all are creating readers helping them grow into great people. We are getting ready to read One for the Murphys to our 7ths, and I can’t wait for them to meet Carley. ❤

What an amazing giveaway! Thank you so much for your thanks and generosity. The winner of this will be such s hero to their students and will create such a buzz of excitement for reading. Love it- thanks again for the chance! 🙂

Eek! How wonderful! I introduced my classes to Jennifer Nielsen’s novels this year. They are obsessed. They’re crafting screenplay adaptations, devouring everything they can find of hers, have regular talks about all things Jaron…it…is…adorable.

Thank you so much for this opportunity.
The books on this list are amazing and would be a powerful addition to my school library or the library of the lucky winner. With budgets being so tight, the generosity of this gesture is profound @psmcmartin

I got to share today at a technology conference about making connections between books & maker activities. I love creative ways to get more books into the hands of interested students. Thank you for this opportunity. I will be sharing on Twitter @ShannonSteimel

Wonderful support! Great opportunity to update library with engaging collection of books to keep our readers reading! #lifelongreaders Thank you #AuthorsLoveTeachers – You are an amazing group of people to support our students like this and help stretch our tiny budgets! @wheeler_elem on O’ahu, Hawaii. K-5 school. #welovereading!

Looking over this list I realize I’m well read! I can say I’ve delved into the pages of over half of them, and I am creating a new list of must reads of the ones I’ve missed. As a school librarian I’d like to say I truly appreciate authors. You labor over your writing projects and then have to risk rejection to see it get published. You are the epitome of determination and perseverance! Thank you for sharing your ideas, fantasies, and at times, pouring your souls into birthing your books!

Wow! This list of books is incredible. I took note of a few that looked interesting for my fifth graders! There are even some that I wouldn’t mind cracking open and reading too! 😀 How generous of you, and all of the authors, to award one teacher this honor. This is a hard job sometimes and getting fantastic books in the hands of kids makes it just a bit easier (and way more fun!).

Books for me have always been my safe haven. No matter what was happening in the world, I could find a book that either gave me empathy and understanding by reflecting the situation or allowed me to escape in my imagination. As I teach my Northeast Florida library students today, I’m sure they will have questions about the school shooting in Parkland, FL. I will be reading books about love and kindness to them today to assist them as they work through the frightening emotions we are all feeling. Thank you for YOUR kind words to librarians and teachers. We all really needed to hear this. ❤️

This is an amazing giveaway anyone would be thrilled to win! Although I am a STEM teacher for 4/5, we all love reading and I try to keep a good collection of books in the room. We all love reading! My ELA counterpart has done a fabulous job of sharing the love of reading with the students and so has my whole team. I’d love to be able to share these wonderful titles with the students and my team! Thank you for making this giveaway possible! @JuliaGalvanSTEM I’ll be sharing on Twitter to help other teachers find this as well!

Sometimes all kids can count on when going through tough times are books. Talking to a student about a book is a special connection that breaks down barriers and builds trust. Thanks for organizing this!!
Rachael

As I’m scrolling these books my excitement and butterflies keeps growing and growing, I can only imagine that feeling would be ten fold if I were to pull these books out of a box to show my class. I don’t think they, or I, would be able to contain the excitement! @ng1ust0

It’s always a wondrous thing when a person connects with a book, especially our young people, Sometimes when we drift from reading, we forget how much stories complete us. Every opportunity to connect is a blessing. Thank you for your kind words about teachers and librarians and for creating this opportunity to enrich others’ lives, especially when budgets are tight.
@DenLibrary_PSHS

Thank you, Lynda, and all of the generous authors who contributed to this incredible collection of books. In this uncertain world that we live in, books provide hope, peace, love, safety, and sometimes and escape. They give children models of how to deal with social and emotional situations that we all encounter in life. Books take us outside of our own perspectives and offer a more globalized view of the world. Nothing is more important right now. If I was to win this giveaway, I would gift some of the books to the rest of the classrooms in our school. Very rarely are we given money for classroom libraries, which are the most important part of each and every classroom. I will share this giveaway on Twitter both at @Kpteach5 and @Kpstars5. Thank you again for your generosity! Books are the only tool I need to do my job well!

Thank you for this! What a great list of books. My favorite moments this year are chatting casually about books with students. Formal book talks are awesome, too, but I love the moment when a student finishes a book, and tells me about it, excitement in their eyes. And then seeing the face of the next student, waiting to check it out. The best. Saw a former student yesterday, and after a hug, told her about a book I had just finished that she would love. Books lend a commonality to people. @juliejaeger

Wowsers! This is an amazing collection of books! Thank you to you and all the authors for donating so many books for a lucky teacher/librarian. Johnson Elementary School in Charlottesville, VA is crossing our fingers to win! Find me on Twitter @beckflower Email beckflower@yahoo.com

My fourth grade scholars came into the school year with a negative attitude towards reading. It has been the most beautiful transformation and it never gets old when my scholars are excited to read and get bummed when reading time is over. They are READERS!! 🙂

Thank for such kind words and the opportunity to get great books 📚 in the hands of kids! I love when children come to Library eager for books. They can’t wait to find that special book or series! For some titles, the hold list is long, but always well worth the wait! There’s always a rush after booktalks of particular authors or books. I love reading fever! The best thing going are libraries! ❤️ I’m sharing this everywhere! @LibraryMaus

After the events of yesterday in Florida – who MORE important to protect our children than TEACHERS and SCHOOL EMPLOYEES (the includes librarians, cafeteria workers, front office people, custodians etc…) THANK YOU for giving love to us! twitter: @kathyfs24

Days like yesterday were once unfathomable and now they are reality. My heart hurts for our kids, and makes me want to ignite their love of reading even more, as a resource for coping and for escape. Books can teach us compassion and help us understand ourselves and each other better. We can always use more of that.

My boys love being read to! This collection is a wonderful and would totally grow with them as they get older. I hope as they get older we can still read together every day – it’s our little bonding quiet time 🙂

I love this list of books! Added a bunch of titles to my wishlist! Thank you so much for doing this as well as the kind words. In light of recent events, this really made my day! I can’t wait to share some of these titles with my kiddos!

Libraries are not just a place to store books, but a place to discover info., perspectives, and creativity. Teachers and librarians can use books to communicate love, humanity, and opportunity. Don’t judge a book, or a person, by its cover. #AuthorsLoveTeachers @dinah_bel -Dinah Wade

Libraries are not just a place to store books, but a place to discover info., perspectives, and creativity. Teachers and librarians can use books to communicate love, humanity, and opportunity. Don't judge a book, or a person, by its cover. #AuthorsLoveTeachers

Love my job as a librarian at a 4-8 TAG school in Dallas, Texas. These kids are the ones who will some day move the mountains that today’s politicians are refusing to move. My #librarysafespace allows all students to know that books that represent all cultures will be found on our shelves.

Will retweet with image of me as Library Man! You gotta see it! *smile* @wbtravislibrary

My favorite thing about being a teacher is sharing my favorite books and stories with students who get as excited about them as I do. And they do! In my experience, it doesn’t take a lot for a second grader to fall in love with a book. It doesn’t take much for me, either! ❤️ Thank you for this chance! #AuthorsLoveTeachers

As a 5th grade teacher I LOVE that my kindergarten daughter loves going to Library with Miss Mihelic every week. A love of reading is inspired and modeled daily in her library at Brookwood Elementary. My entry is a way to show my appreciation for all she does!

I’m a literacy coach who just started working in an 8th and 9th grade building after years and years at elementary, and yesterday I got to spend the morning with the ELA department in our first PD together. We filled six pages of chart paper with our wishes and ideas about helping our students embrace their reading lives more fully. I walked away from that meeting feeling so inspired, and then read about this giveaway. I’m entering this in the hopes of helping to further this conversation we started yesterday — to share these amazing books with the kids we pictured as we wished and planned would be such an honor!

Our school hosts a book club each year and we’ve been lucky enough to have several authors attend. We love getting kids excited about reading and are grateful to the generous authors that help us do this! It’s a special time of year and we love it!

What an amazing selection! I would absolutely LOVE to be chosen to receive any one of them, let alone all of them! Then the incredibly difficult decision would be which one would I choose to share first with my students?!? Yesterday, during two particular “cliffhanger” moments, my whole class cried, “NOOO!!!” when we ended our read aloud time(s) of our current book, Space Case by Stuart Gibbs. I so love that!

This is what I would call the LIBRARY LOTTERY! Great collection of wonderful reads- and some that are now added to my ‘to read’ list! I feel like I already won, with a new stack to start on! Thank you a million times over for supporting librarians everywhere.
#sharonthelibrarian 🙂
Samuel Morgan Elementary
Kaysville, Ut

What a generous offer of an amazing collection of books. It is always a great feeling putting a book into the hand of a reluctant reader and to have them return and ask “what’s next.” Wow! This offer would be a welcomed surprise to my students and my small Library.

Thank you for your support of students and, for not just giving away books, but such a wonderful collection of books! As someone who is constantly seeking to diversify the school library in which I work, I appreciate the variety this giveaway provides…and a great opportunity to add books to my “to-read” list! 🙂 @teachinatardis

Thank you so much for such a generous giveaway!
As a school librarian and teacher, I find books are treasures that share both wisdom and expression in ways films never can.
Our children at school get so excited with each book that enters our library.
It is so special to learn about the authors of each book.
To know that these books are their brainchild , their labor of love and we get to enjoy their precious gifts makes us feel so lucky!
Thank you! Thank you ! Thank you!

This is an amazing opportunity! Thank you so much. I love matching people and books. It’s my favorite part of my job. As I scrolled through the list of books, I could picture the reader who would go with each book!

This is an absolutely amazing offer. I am so lucky to have great resources at my two schools. The district funds my library and the PTA supports any gaps in that funding. If I win, I will donate the books to an underfunded school in Maine. I will get help from the Maine Association of School Libraries to get the name of the school.

I never set out to be a school librarian. It’s an amazing, fun and rewarding job that I am lucky to have.

This is amazing. Wherever this books end up, kids are going to be so inspired and grow as readers and thinkers. My amazing students would be blessed to have such rich literature in the classroom. Shared also on twitter. @shkauffman

WOW! WOW! WOW! WOW! I’m so grateful for amazing authors. You write amazing stories that I get to share with my students. You show such kindness to teachers and students alike. THANK YOU for this opportunity and keep writing those amazing books! Shared on twitter: @mhaseltine.

Thank you for this thoughtful give away. There is no greater job as an educator than to help a child become a life long learner and lover of books. With so many great books here it is easy to create excitement in our students.

This is an amazing giveaway! My students would be thrilled if I would be able to add some of these titles to our school library. I am a second year librarian dedicated to expanding the fiction section. If I won this giveaway, I would be able to give my students greater access to some fantastic titles.The best part of being of school librarian is the look I get from students when the book they have wanted to read has been returned to the library and available for checkout. Their expressions are priceless! Thanks for acknowledging and honoring the work that teachers and librarians do each and every day!